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Los Angeles County has failed to meet minimum standards for more than half a decade and continues to attempt to shirk its responsibilities

 

SACRAMENTO  (December 19, 2024) – The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) convened yesterday to discuss the continued, serious noncompliance with regulatory mandates by the Los Angeles County Probation Department at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. Since 2018, Los Angeles County has failed to consistently meet minimum state-required staffing standards and has continued to fall below minimum standards despite continuous technical assistance to improve operations.

Los Angeles County reopened Los Padrinos in 2023 to house youth due to an inability to provide adequate safety and security at both the Central and Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Halls. However, Los Angeles County has failed to maintain a safe environment for the young people in the facility. Los Angeles County’s failure has resulted in severe deficiencies, most significantly with staffing which remains in violation of minimum state-mandated staffing requirements. BSCC’s inspections of Los Padrinos have uncovered a multitude of similar issues:

• Youth spending inordinate amounts of time in room confinement, without access to programs, recreation, and outdoor exercise.
• Youth unable to get to school, medical appointments, delayed security checks
• Youth being forced to urinate in receptacles, and feces and urine-soaked towels found on the floor of children’s rooms because there were no staff available to escort them to the bathroom safely.

In June 2024, BSCC inspectors noted that facility staff were documenting youth participating in programs but found discrepancies when corresponding video was reviewed. Facility staff were falsifying activity logs so that they appeared to be in compliance with minimum standards.

In response, BSCC has found Los Padrinos noncompliant with the Board’s minimum standards during almost each inspection since its reopening. BSCC staff have continued to offer the county guidance and the BSCC Board has allowed additional time for the county to come into compliance with the law. When offered technical assistance, the county has frequently ignored opportunities to make improvements, and continues to remain noncompliant, putting the children in its care in danger.

“The Board has made every attempt at approaching this situation collaboratively and has provided ample time for Los Angeles County to fulfill its responsibility in providing safe and appropriate housing for the young people in their care,” stated BSCC Board Chair Linda Penner. “While they have made some progress, the systemic, continued violations are unacceptable. We are disappointed to learn that rather than correcting their ongoing failures, Los Angeles County Probation Department is instead is attempting to shirk its responsibility and blame the state for taking action to protect the children that the county was meant to care for. This is truly inexcusable behavior by the county.”

The full timeline of BSCC action details Los Angeles County Probation’s perpetual lack of progress.

The BSCC provides services to county adult and juvenile systems through inspections of county jails and juvenile detention facilities, technical assistance on local issues, promulgation of regulations, training standards for local correctional staff, and the administration of a wide range of public safety, reentry, violence reduction, and rehabilitative grants to state and local governments and community-based organizations.  For more information on Title 15 and 24 Regulations, please visit the BSCC webpage.

 

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